Screened chamber for ion therapy

ABSTRACT

In a shielded chamber for neutron therapy including a therapy room which has a main axis as determined by the direction of a high-energy neutron therapy beam surrounded by shielding and includes at one end a labyrinth entrance with at least two shielding wall sections displaced longitudinally along the main axis and extending into the room from opposite side walls, the wall sections include means for causing spallation of the incident high energy neutrons to thereby generate from the high energy neutrons in the high energy neutron beam a plurality of low energy neutrons which are then moderated.

This is a Continuation-In-Part Application of international application PCT/EP03/007304 filed Jul. 8, 2003 and claiming the priority of German patent application 102 35 116.3 filed Aug. 1, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a screened therapy chamber for therapy with neutrons having an energy up to GeV, wherein the therapy chamber is shielded at all but one side, which includes a labyrinth-like shielded access.

In Germany and other European countries, therapeutic medical accelerators for highly energetic ion radiation are under development [I]. For the design of such high energy ion accelerators however there is a problem in that ion accelerators produce secondary radiation during moderation of the ions in the accelerator structures and in biological and other targets. The main component of the secondary radiation is neutron radiation. The primary beam, in contrast, is accelerated or, respectively, transported.

The following processes result in the production of neutrons forming secondary radiation:

-   -   radiation losses by charge conversion.     -   radiation losses by charge transfer,     -   radiation losses by interaction with the residual gas in a         partial vacuum,     -   losses during deflection and inflection procedures, ex traction         and injection,     -   During moderation of the ion radiation in the tissue or another         material.

The unavoidable secondary radiation, that is, the neutron radiation must be shielded. The radiation levels generated as source radiation are substantial; they are at a level of up to SV/h. The radiation level tolerable outside the radiation shield is at a pSv/h level, depending on the definition for the areas outside the radiation shield, for example, according to German radiation protection rules surveillance- or control areas. Consequently, the neutron radiation dose must be reduced by about 6 orders of magnitude.

A heavy ion therapy unit in a hospital environment needs to comply with the requirements of the radiation protection rules, that is, areas adjacent to the therapy rooms are to be defined as surveillance areas, in which the 1-mSv-limit per year is maintained with negligible emissions from radioactive materials.

Conventional therapy installations wherein patients are irradiated with x-ray or gamma radiation are arranged in radiation bunkers in such a way that concrete walls shield the primary radiation such as the stray radiation in such a way that the surrounding areas do not have an increased radiation level.

Radiation therapy has been performed so far using radiation from gamma radiation sources such as 137-Cs, 60-Co, or X-radiation generated by electron accelerators. The radiation protection obtained by walls serves therefore for the shielding of gamma and x-radiation. For electron accelerators with high end energies of up to 50 MeV, the neutron radiation generated by the nuclear photo effect must be shielded. Authoritative control rules for the design of the neutron shields are the DIN norms DIN 6847/part 2 [II], the publication of the NCRP and, for high energy particle accelerators in basic research, the reference book Landolt-Bornstein [III].

The general procedure for the shielding of neutron radiation is the use of hydrogen-containing substances such as water, concrete and water-containing minerals. Materials such as lead or iron used for the shielding of x and gamma radiation are not particularly suitable to absorb or moderate neutrons. For direct neutron radiation in accordance with DIN 6847, part 2, [II], the following tenth-value layer thickness for the area of mechanical irradiation units are given:

mSv-limit per year, with negligible emissions of Material Water paraffin Concrete Iron, lid Tenth value thickness 10-15 cm 16-25 cm 42 cm

Because of insufficient absorption and moderation of neutrons with energies of up to 3 MeV, the effectiveness of metals is insufficient so that additional hydrogen-containing absorbers must be used.

The shielding effect of a wall with a thickness of d and a minimum thickness of (d>d_(o)) is for a neutron beam with an energy E_(n): $\frac{H(d)}{Ho} = {\frac{1}{r^{2}} \cdot {\exp\left( {- \frac{d}{\lambda\left( {E_{n},\vartheta} \right.}} \right)}}$ With the characteristic moderating constant λ(E_(n)) which depends on the energy of the neutron radiation and the angle θ relative to the incident beam, the distance r to the source location the shield thickness α and the source strength H_(o), which depends on the primary beam and the target.

Generally, the shielding effect is higher with copper than with concrete except for neutrons with energies of 3 MeV or less. The shielding however should be such that it is effective for all neutron energies as they may occur with the transport of the source neutrons through the shield so that shielding must be present which is effective for all neutron energies.

The radiation protection arrangements of the radiation therapy installations built up to now concentrate in the shielding of neutron components in the energy range of the neutrons of about 10 MeV. Herein, concrete alone is generally a sufficiently effective radiation protection for all types of radiation. The difference in the shielding effectiveness of metals and concrete is small over a wide energy range that is an energy range of 3 to 30 MeV.

The newest radiation protection plans for the Italian ion therapy project TERA were done by Agosteo et al. [IV]. Herein the planning is based on carbon ions. For the design of the radiation protection features, neutron spectra are used as they are used also in the present case. Agosteo developed on the basis of the measured neutron spectrums and the transport of the neutrons—using the radiation transport program FLUKA [V]—with a simplified geometry, for example, a spherical geometry, a model which permits an estimation of the weakening of the neutron radiation in such simplified arrangements. The model describes essentially the dose caused by direct radiation. Increased doses to be expected as a result of stray radiation are difficult to estimate with such models.

Heavy ion therapy installations which provide depth therapy with carbon ions require accelerated ions with energies of up to about 400 MeV per nucleon. The neutron radiation generated during moderation of the ions in the tissue has energies of up to about 1000 MeV. Such high-energetic neutron radiation is difficult to shield particularly with conventional shielding materials. The weakening distance of neutrons with energies in excess of 100 MeV in normal concrete of the density of 2.3 g/cm³ is 45 to 52 cm. The tenth value thickness is about 100 cm. The physical parameters of an ion therapy installation differ substantially from those of a conventional X-irradiation installation. In this case, the primary beam, protons, carbon ions, oxygen ions is precisely guided from the generation over the acceleration to the deposition in the tissue and is not much scattered like x-ray beams, but, during slow-down, highly energetic neutrons are generated. For example, a carbon ion with an energy of 400 MeV per nucleon produces about 5 neutrons an average when being slowed down.

Another basic difference with regard to conventional x-ray therapy installations resides in the higher spatial requirements and the spatial disturbance of the beam generation up to the application of the beam in the patient. Therefore the shielding expenses already of the beam guide structure are higher than with conventional installations. Furthermore, the access to the treatment rooms is more difficult since large areas around the therapy unit are occupied by the beam guide structure. Conventional shielding concepts for x-ray irradiation installations utilize mainly the shielding effects of concrete with weakening lengths (concrete wall thicknesses) which are applicable for MeV neutron radiation.

Radiation protection shields have been developed so far only with the consideration of hydrogen-containing moderators for the utilization of the elastic scattering of neutrons on protons, whose effective cross-sections become smaller with increasing neutron energy. Concepts for the shielding of highenergy neutron radiation however also need to consider physical processes, such as spallation and fragmentation reactions which have constant effective cross-sections and constant interaction probabilities for high energies. In comparison with concrete, there are materials which result in changed moderating lengths and which may require less space than concrete shields.

In order to be able to effectively dimension, the therapy units, compact shielding arrangements are of great interest.

These include:

-   -   Areas adjacent to the therapy rooms should be so designed that         nobody needs to be there over extended periods;     -   The therapy room sizes should be limited so that only small         areas need to be shielded;     -   The shielding itself should be efficient so that relatively         little space is required therefor;     -   Shielding doors should be relatively small as a result of the         previous measure, so they can be moved also without power         assistance within an acceptable period.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an efficient and effective shielding arrangement of a relatively small volume.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a shielded chamber for neutron therapy including a therapy room which has a main axis as determined by the direction of a high-energy neutron therapy beam surrounded by shielding and includes at one end a labyrinth entrance with at least two shielding wall sections displaced longitudinally along the main axis and extending into the room from opposite side walls, the wall sections include means for causing spallation of the incident high energy neutrons to thereby generate from the high energy neutrons in the high energy neutron beam a plurality of low energy neutrons which are then moderated.

The solution is based on the principle of a spatially structured multi-layer component shield, that is a combination shield for high energy neutron radiation. Essential is the introduction of a layer which first causes an interaction between high energy neutrons in spallation reactions with heavy atom nuclei. In this process, several low energy neutrons are generated from a high-energy neutron. These low-energy neutrons can then be absorbed or moderated with conventional hydrogen containing shielding materials, the combination shield is effective in tow steps:

-   -   initiation of spallation- and fragmentation reactions in the         first layer;     -   absorption of the secondary radiation generated in the first         layer.

In connection with the combination shielding, an optimization in various aspect of the radiation protection is important.

In spallation reactions, not only neutrons are generated but also nuclear fragments, among them radio nucleides which again are a source of possible radiation.

The selection of the heavy target nuclei determines which spectrum of radio-nuclides can be produced. The selection of the heavy target nucleus consequently optimizes the conversion of highly energetic neutrons to low energy neutrons and the generation of beta and gamma radiation emitting radio nucleides. The use of heavy spallation neutron converters such as lead bismuth etc, provides for a correspondingly large spectrum of generated radio-nuclides some of which have a longer life. Lighter spallation neutron converters have a lower spallation efficiency, but the possibilities and the effective crosssections for the production of radio nuclides are smaller, since, in accordance with the nuclide card, fewer radio nuclides can be generated. This is an advantage in connection with radiation protection considerations with respect to the exposure to beta and gamma radiation when the accelerator is turned off.

The combination shielding can be summarized with measures for the spatial structuring in the following way:

-   -   i) the introduction of combination shields, for example, metal         with 0.5 to 1 m layer thickness and a hydrogen containing layer         of a 1.5 to 2 or 3 m layer thickness, wherein, in the first         layer, high energy neutron spallation reactions are initiated         and neutrons of mostly lower energy are generated which are         moderated in the second and further layers, for example, 0.5 m         Fe and 1.5 m concrete.     -   ii) the introduction of transverse webs extending from the         ceiling down vertically toward the floor and consisting of         concrete for example     -   iii) the introduction of transversely extending walls in         combination shielding with several combination shields arranged         behind one another,     -   iv) a radiation protection door of hydrogen containing         substances such as polyethylene, water, paraffin etc.     -   v) another measure comprises a back stray chamber for neutrons         with walls in combination shielding and a side exit into the         labyrinth,     -   vi) beam stop reinforcements for the location where the primary         beam is destroyed.

An additional measure is:

-   -   a movable cover for example of metal such as Pb for the area in         which the primary beam is destroyed, in order to shield the         gamma radiation emitting nucleides. The cover can be moved         during irradiating procedures into a shield in order to avoid         activation and, after shutting off the primary beam, the movable         cover can be moved to the location to be shielded.

Further possible measures are:

-   -   The mobile shields in the radiation treatment roof, so-called         set-up walls.

The above measures must be combined in order to achieve the required shielding effects. The use of the combination shielding is part of an optimized radiation protection arrangement.

The individual measures are known from the art or are used in praxis of accelerators in basic research. However in combination for optimizing shielding effects, they are novel. In combination, they reduce the dose of the secondary radiation by about 6 orders in magnitude from the radiation source to the entrance. An important aspect is the reduction of the part of direct radiation from the source as well as the part of stray radiation. Shields used so far for shielding neutron radiation utilize only the prevalent neutron absorption reactions in the shields by moderating incident neutrons via hydrogen containing moderators.

The measures proposed herein provide for an aggregate action in that first, by way of spallation reactions of the incident radiation, neutrons of smaller energy than that of the incident neutrons are generated. These lower energy neutrons are then moderated in a conventional way and absorbed in the shielding by neutron absorption reactions.

Furthermore, new geometric elements for strategic shielding are provided in a labyrinth arrangement, for example the back stray dead end path, for the reduction of the stray radiation.

Depending on the application of the above-mentioned measures, the above-mentioned strategies result in an optimized shielding of the generated neutron and photon radiation under the following aspects:

-   -   Reduction of the radiation level caused by direct radiation,         that is, non-stray radiation;     -   Reduction of the stray radiation;     -   Optimization of the use of the spatial arrangements of the         shielding units;     -   The production of radio nucleides by secondary radiation, the         immunization and reduction of the radiation exposure by the         gamma- and beta radiating nuclides generated;     -   The combination of the first three measures in such a way that         for example no access shielding door is required.

The essential advantages of the invention reside in the realization of radiation protection by construction features. Those are:

-   -   Optimization of the shielding with regard to material and         geometry;     -   Combination of the optimized measures to fulfill the         requirements of the radiation protection regulations with regard         to installations for the treatment of cancer by means of heavy         ion therapy using protons, carbon ions and other ions;     -   The proposed measures are suitable to provide adequate shielding         even under the most unfavorable condition wherein the entrance         direction to the treatment location of the patient is along the         beam axis;     -   A more efficient and effective moderation of the direct and         stray radiation for high energy neutron radiation;     -   A compact shielding for a two-mode operation in connection with         patient irradiation and quality security with radiation         elimination in the shielding wall.     -   Consideration of the generation of radioactive materials during         radiation and the shielding of these materials.

The present prototype planning of a heavy ion therapy installation at a radiological university hospital is based on carbon ion radiation and proton radiation. The plans were examined by the TUV Suddeutschland (Technical Surveillance Association of Southern Germany) with respect to the shielding arrangements and effects and was approved as to its principal design.

The invention will be described below on the basis of a schematic representation of the horizontal irradiation location of the heavy ion therapy installation designed for this university hospital.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the horizontal irradiation location of the heavy ion therapy installation as designed for the university hospital of Heidelberg, and

FIG. 2 shows a model of the geometry P for the horizontal irradiation locations by the radiation transport program FLUKA for determining the ambient equivalent dose H*(10) for neutrons.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTALLATION

The heavy neutron therapy installation is operated with either protons, carbon ions, neon ions or heavy ions forming the primary beam for the production of neutron radiation. The reason herefor are the described nuclear physical fragmentation processes of the ion or of the target nucleus during the moderation procedure of the ion in the material. For example, per carbon ion with the energy of 400 MeV per nucleon on average 5 neutrons are released. In addition to the beam guide from the synchrotron to the patient which involves minimal losses, particularly the area of the patient treatment is a location with relatively high neutron radiation dose.

With the arrangement of such therapy installations, the access to the treatment area is located in some cases opposite the primary beam along the beam path. The neutrons are radiated spatially in such a way that the main part of the ion beam stray radiation is directed forwardly. This requires that the access area includes means which sufficiently weaken the radiation up to the access area of the therapy location (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

The effectiveness of the shielding arrangements for an irradiation location can be determined most accurately by means of radiation transport programs. In the exemplary embodiment, the results of Monte-Carlo radiation transport calculations based on measured neutron spectra are summarized.

The estimation of the radiation level was calculated for the horizontal radiation locations using the radiation program FLUKA on the basis of measured neutron spectra. As beam, a carbon ion beam with an energy of 400 MeV per nucleon was considered. As target for the measurements, a graphite block of 100×100×200 mm³ was used. The neutron spectra were measured at the angles 0°, 7.5°, 15°, 30°, 60° and 90°.

There are basically two radiation modes for such therapy installations:

-   -   Exposure of patients to irradiation with a full primary beam         deposition in the patient     -   Irradiation for the verification of exposure plans and for         ensuring quality wherein the beam may also be deposited in a         beam catcher.

For the calculation, the spectra measured with a carbon target were considered as being representative of an exposure of a patient or respectively, the spectra measured with a copper target were considered to be representative of the radiation exposure, for ensuring the quality.

For the FLUKA simulation calculations of the labyrinth, the two geometries are treated as follows:

-   -   patient geometry, P;     -   geometry Q (quality assurance) for control measurements.

In the first case, the beam is destroyed in the target about 3.5 m ahead of the first wall; in the latter cases, most of the beam is destroyed directly in the first wall of the labyrinth (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

The neutrons generated are transported through the labyrinth toward the entrance area and the dose generated along the labyrinth is determined. For the intensity of the ion beam, averaged during operation over a 10 min. time interval, maximum values of 10⁷ ions per second are expected. The theoretical maximum value is at 3×10⁸ ions per second. As source neutrons which stray backwardly are used the neutron spectra measured at less than 90° are used.

For optimizing the shielding effect, the following measures are introduced.

-   -   labyrinth techniques for reducing the stray radiation;     -   in addition to conventional concrete shields, the use of         combination shielding;     -   the introduction of transverse webs extending from the ceiling         down to a level of 2.5 m at the passages of the intermediate         walls;     -   local reinforcement of the iron shielding in the first wall of         0.5 m to 1.0 m for the dump function in an area of 1 m² for         quality assurance;     -   the use of an iron shielding also in the third transverse wall         (0.5 m),     -   the use of a polyethylene door in the entrance area (0.5 m         thickness)     -   the use of iron shielding in the ceiling area over the target         (0.5 m iron).

The determination of the doses concentrates on the entrance area to the labyrinth, where the waiting areas for the personnel are and on the adjacent rooms. The dose values are calculated for a primary beam of maximum intensity with 3×10⁸ ions per second (see FIG. 2).

The table 1 below gives an overview of the calculations performed. Geometry P means patient geometry, geometry Q indicates the radiation for quality assurance. Geometry D means ceiling geometry, in the present case with iron reinforcement of 0.5 m iron as a combination shield instead of a 2 m thick concrete shield above the target location.

The characteristic feature of the planned arrangement is that is the forward straying of the neutron cone into the access area—has so far not been taken into consideration in the literature for the kind of radiation treatment installations. TABLE 1 Overview of the geometries as computed with FLUKA employing the various radiation parameters and geometries. Imaging Beam [ions/sec] Dose Rate geometry Mapping 3 × 10⁸ neutrons P 4 3 × 10⁸ photons P 5 1 × 10⁷ neutrons P 6 3 × 10⁸ neutrons Q 7 1 × 10⁷ neutrons Q 8 3 × 10⁸ neutrons D 9 1 × 10⁷ neutrons D 10 Literature:

-   [I]. J. Debus; Proposal for a dedicated Ion Beam Facility for Cancer     Therapy. DKFZ, GSI and FZR Report 1998 -   [II]. DIN 6847/Teil 2 (Strahlenschutzregeln für die Errichtung von     medizinischen Elektronenbeschleunigeranlagen, Kapitel 8.7, Bemessung     der Abschimmung von Neutronenstrahlung), Marz 1990. -   [III]. A. Fasso, K. Goebel, M. Höfert, J. Ranft, G. Stevenson in     LandoltBornstein, Gruppe 1: Kern- und Teilchenphysik; Band 11:     Abschimmung gegen hochenergetische Strahlung, Herausgeber H.     Schopper, SpringerVerlag, Berlin, 1990. -   [IV]. S. Agosteo; Radiation Protection at Medical Accelerators;     Radiation Protection Dosimetrie, Vol. 96No. 4, 393-406 (2001). -   [V]. A. Fasso, A. Ferrari, J. Ranft, P. R. Sala: New developments in     FLUKA, modelling hadronic and EM interactions Proc. 3^(rd) Workshop     on Simulating Accelerator Radiation Environments, KEK, Tsukuba     (Japan) 7-9 May 1997. Ed. H. Hirayama, KEK Proceedings 97-5     (1997), p. 32-43. 

1. A shielded chamber for ion therapy with neutrons having an energy range of up to GeV, comprising: a therapy room having a main axis as determined by the direction of a neutron therapy beam which is provided with shielding (1) all around except for one end, and a shielded labyrinth entrance arranged at the non-shielded end of the therapy room, said labyrinth entrance including at least two shielding wall sections (2) displaced longitudinally along said main axis and extending into said therapy room from opposite sides thereof by more than half the width of said room so as to overlap in the direction of said axis, said shielding wall sections including means for causing spallation of the incident high-energy neutrons in said neutron therapy beam thereby generating a plurality of low energy neutrons and means for moderating the produced low energy neutrons.
 2. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein the shielding wall sections (2) include a metal layer on the sides thereof facing the therapy room.
 3. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein the shielding wall section closer to the therapy room is reinforced in the area thereof which is exposed to the therapy beam.
 4. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein the labyrinth entrance includes in the space between the shielding wall sections (2) additional hydrogen-containing shielding structures.
 5. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein an additional shielding wall section (2) is arranged in the labyrinth entrance and the wall sections extend alternately from the side walls of the therapy room into the therapy room.
 6. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein, at its end remote from the therapy room the entrance is provided with a hydrogen-containing shielding door (5).
 7. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein the shielding wall section (2) adjacent the therapy room is provided in the area directly exposed to the neutron beam with a concave surface structure (3).
 8. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein parts of the shielding (1) are capable of initiating spallation of the incident high energy neutrons to produce low energy neutrons which are moderated.
 9. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein the area of the concave surface structure (3) is shielded by an additional movable shielding element.
 10. A shielded chamber according to claim 1, wherein the free end of at least one of the shielding wall sections (2) is T- or L-shaped. 